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Jalamanta
Jalamanta is the debut solo album by desert rock musician Brant Bjork (Kyuss, Fu Manchu). Written, performed and recorded almost entirely by Bjork in early February, it was released initially in the fall of 1999 via Man's Ruin Records. Later through Bjork's personal labels it would attain more popularity among the desert rock circles and has since served as an essential release within the world of Desert Rock. Background At the time leading up to the recording of Jalamanta, Bjork had previously played with Kyuss and mainly played with Fu Manchu at the time. At some point in 1998 or early 1999, Bjork decided he wanted to make a record on his own. Bjork was nervous about the idea of a record and at the time was working odd day jobs in between tours with Fu Manchu. Living with Dave Dinsmore at the time, he decided on making the record and rented a week's worth of time at Rancho de la Luna. The month prior, Brant would record on a four-track and test out how the songs "grooved" on bike commutes. Fred Drake was intended to engineer the record but due to feeling ill at the time had Tony Mason take up the engineering duties in what would be Mason's first time taking the lead in that role (Previously Mason had largely been an assistant in the studio).Low Desert Punk YouTubeBrant Bjork - Jalamanta Retrospective part 1, accessed 6 July 2018 With time and money limited, Brant had rehearsed enough to have all of the songs figured out in his head by the time it came to record. Brant recorded the drum parts first while also drawing influences from the likes of War, jazz music and Peter Tosh. Brant took the approach of a producer and an artist rather than a contributer, painting together a record representing the desert and small town life as he would envision it.Low Desert Punk YouTubeBrant Bjork - Jalamanta Retrospective Part 2, accessed 6 July 2018 Brant would approach Frank Kozik about releasing the record to which Kozik was happy to do so. Jalamanta was originally released on CD circa 11 October 1999 via Man's Ruin Records. A CD re-issue would see release the next year with a purple CD design. When Man's Ruin closed in 2001, Brant would gain rights back to the record. Not long after he himself would release a second solo album, start up a personal label in Duna and begin performing live under his solo moniker Brant Bjork would pursue a re-issue to a wider audience. On 1 April 2003, Jalamanta saw a re-release on CD with new artwork but also saw it's first vinyl edition with a previously unreleased bonus track from the same sessions in a cover of Take Me Away by Blue Öyster Cult. Brant Bjork would hold a live release party at Spaceland in Los Angeles on the same day, with Mario and Larry Lalli performing Jalamanta tunes with him. A second CD reissue in digipak form saw release in 2007. On 4 June 2009, Low Desert Punk (Brant's current label at the time) would announce a deluxe vinyl re-issue of Jalamanta in observation of the album's tenth anniversary. A two-part documentary interviewing Bjork and Tony Mason was aired, telling the story behind the making of the record and it's legacy in the desert scene. In October 2009, Jalamanta's 10th anniversary double LP would be unveiled with the same tracklist, but with a 24-page booklet with liner notes and unseen photos in the following amounts: *500x Black, Hand-numbered and signed by Brant Bjork *100x Orange & Black *40x Red Marble *???x Clear, pressed in 2011 *???x Black, pressed in 2013 *???x Orange, pressed in 2013 via Cobraside Distribution *???x Orange Marble, pressed in 2013 via Cobraside Distribution Heavy Psych Sounds Reissue On 20 May 2019 it would be announced that after a series of reissues and new albums via Heavy Psych Sounds that Jalamanta would be the next Brant Bjork album to be reissued via Heavy Psych Sounds' reissue series. Upon request of Heavy Psych Sounds and as a challenge by Bjork and Mason, Jalamanta has been re-mixed by Tony Mason and Brant Bjork, with a freshly baked re-master by John McBain at JPM Mastering, San Fransisco and new cover art by Branca Studio. Notably songs are expanded from the original tapes and all versions now include the bonus track "Take Me Away". With a pre-order on 23 May it would be reissued on 13 September 2019 in the following formats:Heavy Psych Sounds Facebook *Digital *Digipak CD *Black Vinyl *600x Solid Yellow Vinyl *250x White Marbled Purple Vinyl *250x White Splatter Rainbow Vinyl *x45 Test Press Tracklist Man's Ruin / Duna Version All songs written by Brant Bjork except where noted. Track 13 is a vinyl-only bonus track. The original Man's Ruin album listed track #5 as "Oasis Layback", but was changed on the Duna release and all subsequent reissues to "Sun Brother". *1. Lazy Bones (1:29) *2. Automatic Fantastic (6:59) *3. Cobra Jab (3:18) *4. Too Many Chiefs... Not Enough Indians (3:44) *5. Sun Brother (4:45) *6. Let's Get Chinese Eyes (4:45) *7. Toot (Lyrics by Mario Lalli, music by Brant Bjork) (5:58) *8. Defender of the Oleander (7:53) *9. Low Desert Punk (4:09) *10. Waiting for a Coconut to Drop (3:57) *11. Her Brown Blood (4:15) *12. Indio (4:08) *13. Take Me Away (5:35) (Eric Bloom, Aldo Nova) Heavy Psych Sounds Version *1. Lazy Bones (1:39) *2. Automatic Fantastic (6:56) *3. Cobra Jab (3:21) *4. Too Many Chiefs... Not Enough Indians (3:47) *5. Sun Brother (5:36) *6. Let's Get Chinese Eyes (4:58) *7. Toot (6:09) *8. Defender of the Oleander (8:22) *9. Bones Lazy (1:40) *10. Low Desert Punk (5:05) *11. Waiting for a Coconut to Drop (4:17) *12. Her Brown Blood (5:07) *13. Indio (4:30) *14. Take Me Away (5:39) Personnel * Brant Bjork - Guitar, Bass, Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Artwork, Photography, Layout, Remixing (2019 Version) * Mario Lalli - Additional Guitar, Lyrics & Vocals on "Toot" * Gary Arce - Additional Guitar * Tony Mason - Engineer, Mixing, Remixing (2019 Version) * Rosa - Producer, Mixing * Matthias Schneeberger - Mastering * John McBain - Remastering (2019 Version) * DUNArt - Artwork, Collage * Frank Kozik - Layout * Peter Black - Remaster (Vinyl issue/10th anniversary Re-issue) * Hirohito Okayasu - Gatefold Photography (10th Anniversary Reissue) * Richard Sibbald - Book Photography (10th Anniversary Reissue) * Eric Allward - Assistant and Spiritual Advisor * Sam Grant - Cover Photos (2019 Edition) * Joe Herbick - Skull ("Modern Relics"; 2019 Edition) * Ryan Jones - Art Direction (2019 Edition) * Branca Studio - Layout (2019 Edition) External Links *Jalamanta on Discogs *Jalamanta Retrospective Part 1 *Jalamanta Retrospective Part 2 References Category:Release Category:Studio Album Category:Desert Rock Category:Stoner Rock Category:Man's Ruin Records Category:Duna Records Category:Low Desert Punk Category:Brant Bjork Category:Joshua Tree Category:California Category:USA